"No problem, after all, the meat is all in our own pot." Maximus thought for a moment and said, "Volenus, send someone to notify the three Chief Centurions to bring their soldiers who are still without weapons and equipment to the town hall to change outfits immediately."
Volenus whispered a reminder: "Leader, should we inform Spartacus and the others about the weapons we captured first?"
Maximus glared at him: "Spartacus and Cross won a big victory earlier, capturing more than enough Roman Army weapons and equipment. They wouldn’t even look at our little stuff, so there’s no need to mention it. By the way, Volenus, how many slaves in Pompeii are willing to join us?"
"Uh... Leader, since I entered the city, I’ve been busy with Capito counting the supplies and haven’t had time to understand the situation with the Pompeii slaves." Volenus explained.
Maximus then remembered that due to the warehouse supervisor Gaius claiming old age and frailty, he didn’t follow the army to Pompeii last night, so he temporarily assigned the task of counting supplies to Volenus.
Should the warehouse supervisor position be replaced with someone who can actively do the job? ...Maximus pondered, and then said: "Make sure to prioritize this matter later, get a clear picture of the situation of the slaves willing to join our Supply Camp, and quickly pick out the young and strong male slaves without special skills to be recruited into the Guard—"
At this point, Maximus suddenly asked, "Where is Flantinus?"
"He might be at the temple watching over the prisoners," Capito answered.
"Go and call him over immediately," Maximus said, then turned to Volenus again, "Besides weapons and equipment, what about the other supplies?"
Volenus carefully examined the records in his hand and said, "We have also gained over a hundred pounds of papyrus, enough linen to fill a large warehouse, many cattle hides, many wool woven blankets, many earthen pots of different sizes, many jars of wine, many jars of olive oil, and a large amount of grain and smoked meat... In addition, we acquired six large chests full of Dinar (silver coins) and two large chests full of Ore (gold coins). Because time is tight, we haven’t had a chance to count in detail. However, these supplies are only those taken from the Pompeii town hall, treasury, temple, and the homes of captured wealthy individuals; we haven’t searched the city’s shops and port warehouses yet!"
"That’s already quite a lot!" Maximus, who was initially tired, suddenly became spirited, excitedly speaking without reserve: "We’re really hitting it big this time!"
"Hitting it big?" Volenus didn’t understand the meaning of this phrase.
Maximus was too lazy to explain, thinking of another issue: "We’ve gained so many supplies, Pigeris’s transport convoy might have to make several trips, and there’s not enough space to store everything at the camp..."
The transport convoy led by Pigeris didn’t set out with the troops last night. After all, driving carts at night easily leads to incidents and makes it easy to be detected. If the Pompeians became alerted, the surprise attack could have likely failed, so Maximus initially planned for them to be notified to come over the day after securing Pompeii.
"Leader, why not just establish Pompeii as the new camp?" Volenus suggested.
"Well..." Maximus tapped his fingers on the long wooden table before him. While Volenus’s suggestion was very tempting to him, the special nature of the Supply Camp made him have to consider more: "This would require discussions with Spartacus, Cross, unless they are willing to move here, otherwise it’s very difficult to station the Supply Camp so far from the main forces..."
As Maximus was pondering, Flantinus walked in: "Leader Maximus, you were looking for me?"
"Yes." Maximus observed the old man in front of him. Three months of life with the rebel army had washed away much of his worn-out demeanor. Even though he had been busy since last night and hadn’t rested, he still appeared energetic, most importantly, there was a newfound respect in his eyes for Maximus.
"Casius Flantinus," Maximus solemnly stated loudly: "Given your many contributions to the Supply Camp, I have decided—you’re appointed as the military officer! In future, you’ll handle the military affairs of the Supply Camp, but you don’t have the authority to mobilize or command the army."
Flantinus understood; this was a position akin to a camp officer in the Roman Army. He was somewhat excited about it. Having lived in such an operation and order similar to the Roman Camp for three months and supervising the Guard’s training every day, he had garnered some sense of belonging to the Supply Camp, but outside of supervising training and offering some suggestions, he couldn’t do much more for the Supply Camp, nor fully integrate into the team. Now, Maximus granted him real power, resolving his inner regret.
"Thank you, Leader!" Flantinus gratefully said.
"You can select five individuals from the military advisory group to be your assistants," Maximus said earnestly: "Among them, there must be literate and numerate people. In the future, detailed records must be kept of the experiences of Guard soldiers and team officers. After every battle, the soldiers’ achievements must also be recorded... All these have to be archived, do you understand?"
Flantinus was a bit dazed. This requirement seemed even higher than that in the Roman Army! There were indeed two literate comrades in the military advisory group, but it might be difficult to meet Maximus’s requirement. Capito could probably do it, but he had already become the chief of the military warehouse...
Maximus saw that Flantinus did not respond and understood his dilemma. Due to Flantinus’s own illiteracy, he was actually not very suitable for the position of military officer.
However, Maximus had observed him for so long, finding that he was, firstly, someone who valued relationships and commitments. Otherwise, when Sula’s large army reached the city, while many Marius veterans chose to avoid the confrontation knowing they would fail, he chose to face it head-on. He had a very good relationship with the soldiers in the army slaves, and even the proud Capito respected him quite a bit. It was said that he often helped his comrades in the slave camp in Rome... People who value relationships often tend to be loyal. Secondly, he was diligent and steadfast in his work. The military training of the Guard had continued for three months, some military advisory group members had almost become statues on the training ground, yet he was still shouting at poorly trained soldiers every day, showing his seriousness and persistence. Managing military affairs requires a doer who is pragmatic... It was precisely because of these reasons that Maximus shared some of the military power he painstakingly held, giving it to Flantinus.
There was really no other way. When the Guard only had one or two hundred men, he could manage them easily. But once the number of soldiers exceeded 500, the affairs of the army increased, especially after taking Pompeii, the military affairs became more complex. As the leader of the Supply Camp, he couldn’t focus all his energy on handling military affairs, so he needed someone to share the burden, which meant power had to be delegated.
Maximus even considered administrative affairs.
When he first appointed Volenus as the clerk, it was initially only to record the situation in the Supply Camp, so that Maximus could access it at any time. But later, it turned into various department heads compiling reports to Volenus, who then reported to Maximus. Moreover, sometimes to save time, Maximus directly sent Volenus with his opinions to solve some issues of the subordinate departments, and even let him be responsible for adult education within the Supply Camp...